In rural areas, the fire fighting equipment is sometimes less than desirable. It has therefore become necessary for companies owning grain elevators or the like to establish their own fire fighting equipment. Frequently, centrifugal or turbine fire pumps are provided on site to pump water from an underground water supply onto the area experiencing the fire. The use of centrifugal pumps does create several problems since centrifugal pumps do not have the ability to establish a wet suction from the stored water supply when the storage tank is below pump level. Since the pump must have a solid charge of water before it is operated, some means of establishing a dependable prime must be provided since it is destructive to high-speed turbines to even operate only a few revolutions without water. If the water supply was located above the pump, water would be continually supplied to the pump but most locations do not have sufficient grade to position the large water storage tank above the pump. Additionally, the continual presence of water within the pump is quite harmful to the pump since many rural areas have extremely corrosive water supplies.
Several current methods of priming centrifugal pumps are presently being employed. Among the most common methods are: (1) positive head or flooded suction; (2) priming from draft; (3) hand operated vacuum pump ejector priming; (4) electric pump priming; and (5) retention of water at pump level by a foot valve. None of the above methods function without the aid of manual operation and someone must be on the site when the fire pump is operated.
Therefore, it is a principal object of the invention to provide an automatic means for positively charging a centrifugal water pump wherein the water supply is located below the pump.
A still further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for positively charging a centrifugal pump which allows the pump to be operated only when the pump has sufficient water therein so as to prevent damage thereto.
A still further object of the invention is to provide an automatic vacuum and water charge system for a positive water pump prime prior to the water pump being actuated.
A still further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for positively charging a centrifugal fire pump including means for deactivating the fire pump if the prime is lost.
A still further object of the invention is to provide an automatic fire protection system which is ideally suited for rural areas.
These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.